create an ad assignment

Those details let me create more personalized ads that speak directly to the challenges and interests of my target audience. That personalization helps boost revenues by 5 to 15% according to research from McKinsey .

2. Conduct market research.

After defining my target audience, I need to go deeper into their world. That’s where market research comes in.

Collecting and analyzing data to learn more about my potential customers helps uncover details like their demographics (age, gender, education level, location), psychographics (interests, values, lifestyles), and even their behaviors (purchasing habits, media consumption patterns).

That information helps me answer questions like:

• What is my primary target audience’s age range?
• What are their biggest pain points or challenges?
• What do they spend most of their time doing?
• Where do they live?
• What media or social platforms do they use?
• What types of ads do they commonly see?

There are multiple options for conducting market research. For instance, you can use existing market data, ask them to complete surveys or questionnaires, or even run a focus group.

Baruch Labunski , founder at Rank Secure, suggests an even more hands-on approach: “ The best information comes from talking to people in a check-out line. Ask them what they want in a specific product or what would make them buy something. ”

HubSpot’s Market Research Kit has everything you need to get started with market research for your ad campaign.

With research in hand, I build profiles of my ideal customers that will influence my decisions moving forward.

These buyer personas are fictionalized profiles that capture my potential customers’ backgrounds, interests, challenges, and how my product, service, or brand adds value to their lives.

My favorite tool to streamline creating buyer personas is HubSpot’s Make My Persona tool .

3. Decide on the ad format.

With my buyer personas to guide me, I need to choose the most effective format(s) to deliver my message. Each format has different strengths and weaknesses, and you may find that using a combination is best for your campaign.

Let’s break down some of the most popular ad formats.

• Display ads. Appearing in websites and apps, these visual ads are usually served as banner ads or popups. According to Statista, display ads account for 30% of all digital advertising spending in the U.S.
• Video ads. Video’s ability to convey a lot of information quickly makes it popular, and research shows that 91% of businesses use videos as part of their marketing strategy. In fact, video marketing spending is expected to reach $120 billion in 2024. Video ads can be long or short but must be tailored to the advertising platform, whether streaming services, social media, or websites.
• Audio ads. Appearing on audio streaming platforms like Apple Music, Spotify, and Pandora, audio ads are typically 15-30 seconds long and can be music-driven or voice-overs. Like video advertising, audio is growing rapidly, with spending expected to reach $16.09 billion by 2029.
• Influencer marketing ads. Powered by social proof, influencer ads use an influencer discussing or using your product to convince their audience to buy. Influencer ads come in several types, including online videos, product reviews, influencer takeovers on social media, and sponsored content.
• Search engines. These text-based search ads look like a typical search entry plus a “sponsored” note on search engine result pages (SERPs). Because these are usually pay-per-click ads (PPC), how often your ad shows when a person searches for certain phrases or keywords may vary based on what your competition is paying for ads on the same keywords.
• Social media. Social media advertising is one of the fastest-growing advertising channels, with revenue expected to reach $262 billion by 2028. Ads on social media networks such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X (formerly Twitter) are available in several formats. Text, images, videos, carousels, and even sponsored content are available on different networks.
• Podcasts. Often overlooked, podcast advertising is relatively low-cost and reaches a well-targeted audience. Audio ads can be placed before, in the middle, and at the end of episodes, with some podcasts also offering video placements on streaming platforms.

4. Determine the ad’s purpose.

Knowing who I want to reach and how I’ll say it is only part of the battle of how to make an advertisement. Now, I need to know what I want out of the ad.

What is the goal of the ad?

Ad goals usually fall into three categories:

• Brand awareness.
• Product awareness.
• Conversions.

Brand awareness builds a sense of familiarity and positivity with your target audience. The goal is to build credibility for the long term so you can make a sale easier later on. For example, if you say Boeing, most consumers immediately think aircraft.

Product awareness and conversions are both product-focused instead of brand-focused. The main difference is that product awareness focuses on sales later, while conversions focus on making a sale now. For example, limited-time sales promos would be conversion-oriented.

Free Advertising Planning Kit

Plan and launch an effective and profitable advertising campaign with this guide and set of templates.

• An Overview of Popular Advertising Methods
• The Pros, Cons, and Costs of Advertising Types
• A Planning Template to Outline Timeline, Budget, and Goals
• A Project Pitch Presentation Deck to Share With Stakeholders

Download Free

All fields are required.

You're all set!

Click this link to access this resource at any time.

How to Make an Advertisement for a Product vs. for a Brand

When creating an ad for a product, the focus should be on that item. I want to point out the features and benefits of my product rather than just my brand's overall product category.

Potential customers need to know what the product does and how it helps them. Depending on the product and the platform, I might even create a tutorial showing how to use the product.

In contrast, if I’m building brand awareness, I might talk more about our employees, company culture, history, and value position to build credibility and trust. Brand awareness ads need to connect emotionally for the long term rather than focus on a quick sale.

5. Choose a platform.

Image Source

My message’s platform must match the ad format and the target audience's presence. For example, the perfect ad will fail if I choose a platform my customers don’t use.

HubSpot’s 2024 The State of Marketing report is my favorite tool for helping me narrow down what platform to use for the best ROI.

Use your market research findings (such as where your audience spends the most time online), ad goals (product awareness or brand awareness), and the chosen format to determine the platform that makes the most sense for your ad.

Ad Platforms

Kamel Ben Yacoub , CEO at Getupload, notes that “ Paid search platforms like Google Ads are ideal for capturing existing demand from high-intent users actively searching for solutions. Google Users are directly typing the solution they are looking for in the search bar. ”

However, social media ads on Meta, TikTok, and LinkedIn “ are better for generating new demand and awareness reaching users who are not seeking your product but could be interested once they learn about it. ”

Pro tip: Don’t restrict yourself to one platform.

For example, my market research might show that my target audience loves X and spends a lot of time on YouTube. A multi-platform approach also casts a wider net, increasing my chances of reaching more of my target audience.

6. Set a budget.

Outside of word-of-mouth advertising, ad campaigns take money, so I must set my budget.

There is no one-size-fits-all budget for ad campaigns. How much to spend depends on the purpose of the ad, the format, the platform, production costs, and how much your brand can afford.

Industry benchmarks and market data can provide a helpful starting point for understanding the average costs associated with different ad formats and platforms, as well as what similar brands are spending. For example, small- to medium-sized businesses spend an average of $1,000 to $7,500 per project on online ads.

Pro tip: Start small and then scale up with time.

Starting with a smaller budget lets you test different strategies, understand what works best for your target audience, and optimize your campaigns before making a larger investment.

Baruch Labunskis suggests that “ Too many people want to put all their advertising money into the medium that is the flashiest. Instead, I would suggest stretching your budget further by focusing more of the campaign on the cheaper tools you can run more or longer. ”

7. Craft your ad message.

Getting my message right is vital. Not only does the information have to be correct and serve the ad goal, it has to be engaging for the right audience. Even when I use copywriters, I have input into the ad message.

What exactly do I want my ad to say? How do I say it?

Revisit audience insights.

I always revisit my target audience's needs, desires, and pain points before I draft ad copy. What are their aspirations or greatest desires? What keeps them up at night? By truly understanding their motivations, I can create a message that speaks directly to them and positions my product or service as the ideal solution.

Focus on the benefits.

Lauren Bayne , Founder and CEO of The Creative Brand Refinery, says: “ People don't care about specs; they want to know what problem your product or service solves. ”

I always explain how the features translate into tangible benefits. For instance, rather than saying a vacuum cleaner has “strong suction power,” I might say it “cleans in one pass, so you have more time to enjoy the things you love."

Create an attention-grabbing headline.

TL;DR is real, and your headline is prime real estate with the power to make or break your ad. Use a question, a surprising fact, or a benefit-driven statement to make them stop scrolling and click. My secret for creating killer headlines for ads and landing pages is HubSpot’s Free AI Headline Generator .

Set your product apart from the competition.

Clearly communicating my product’s unique selling proposition (USP) is vital. Why should someone choose my product over the competition? Whether superior quality, exceptional customer service, or unbeatable price, my USP must make a compelling case for why my product is the best choice.

Keep it simple.

Brian Town , CEO and founder of marketing and branding agency Michigan Creative, advises brands to keep the design as simple as possible because “ A common pitfall in ad design is cluttering the ad with too much information, which can confuse the message. ”

Include a clear call to action (CTA).

Leaving my audience wondering what to do next wastes my ad dollars. I must tell them what I want them to do with a clear and compelling call to action.

Domante Gerdauske , Digital Advertising Team Lead at marketing automation platform Omnisend, says you should always “ adjust your CTA to your goals. ” For example, for brand awareness, she recommends using “ softer CTAs ” like “Learn More” or “Visit Our Website.” and leaving “more action-oriented CTAs” for sales campaigns.

Pro tip: Place CTAs carefully.

Don’t let your audience miss a CTA. According to Mike Vanelli, Head Video Producer at Envy: “ It should stand out visually and be placed in a contextually relevant spot to draw the user’s eye naturally. ”

When I place CTAs, I always try to use a contrasting color scheme or slightly different font to grab attention and place it near a point of interest, like the product image or after a benefit description.

8. Develop or gather creative assets.

Once I have my message, I'll use visual and auditory elements to support my ad message and capture attention. The type of creative assets you need will depend on the ad format and the platform but can include:

• Photography.
• Sound effects.
• Animations.

Tools like Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Audition can help you edit these creative assets, or you can use a creative tool like Canva that includes drag-and-drop templates.

Another option is to use stock assets, either royalty-free, rights-managed, or copyright-free, that you can incorporate into your ads. However, remember to ensure that releases are available for any recognizable people and places in the assets.

Popular stock asset sources include:

• Stock photos and illustrations. Shutterstock , Pixabay , and iStock .
• Stock video footage and audio. Pond5 , Pexels Videos , and Videvo .
• Music and sound effects. AudioJungle , Free Music Archive , and Epidemic Sound .

If your budget allows it, you can hire freelancers or a professional agency for video editing, photography, sound mixing, and copywriting.

9. Create a test mock-up.

I always test ads before launching a campaign. I recommend this step because:

• Ad designs may not work in all formats. Mock-ups help me visualize an ad's appearance on the chosen platform and identify potential issues. For example, a horizontal video might not crop well to vertical.
• It helps me spot errors. A mock-up is a quick way to spot errors like off-brand messaging and colors.
• Feedback is critical. I can show the mock-up to colleagues or test audiences for feedback. Their constructive criticism helps me identify areas where the message isn‘t clear or the visuals aren’t engaging so I can make adjustments to ensure a high-quality final product.

10. Create the final ad.

Now, it’s time to bring the ad to life by combining all your developed elements into a cohesive piece ready to run. If you have a rough draft from the previous step, this is where you polish and refine it. That might include tightening the copy, fine-tuning the visuals, and basically ensuring everything flows smoothly.

Again, you can choose a DIY approach using tools like Canva or Photoshop or outsource the ad’s creation to a freelancer or professional ad agency.

How to make a simple video ad in Canva.

To create a simple video you can run on a platform like YouTube or social media using Canva, follow these steps:

Step 1: Open Canva and type “Video Ads” into the search field.

Step 2 : Browse Canva's library of video templates to find one that matches your vision, style, and platform formatting.

Step 3 : Customize the template. Canva's video ad templates come with pre-designed elements like text boxes, images, video clips, and music. You can replace these elements with your own content.

• Upload your visual elements: Click on Uploads and select your desired file. Then, drag and drop it onto the template. Canva also offers a library of free and premium stock assets. Just be sure to read the licensing terms before use.

• Replace text placeholders: Click on the placeholder text and replace it with your copy.

Step 4 : Edit the fonts and colors to reflect your brand style and identity by clicking Styles .

Step 5 : (Optional) Enhance your video with animations, other visual effects, and audio.

Step 6: Click the play button to preview your video ad and ensure everything looks and sounds good. Adjust the visuals, text, or audio elements as needed.

Step 7: Once satisfied, download your video ad in your preferred format and resolution.

11. Check the small details.

The smallest details can impact ad success. Picture this: you’ve crafted a fantastic ad for a concert your company is hosting. You've identified your target audience, developed a compelling message, and included a clear call to action.

However, one crucial detail is missing: the ad doesn‘t mention where or when the event is happening. While viewers might click through to your website for specifics, there’s no guarantee they'll take that extra step and buy a ticket without details first.

So, before releasing my ad, I always do a final check to ensure I’ve not overlooked any crucial details that could prevent viewers from taking action.

12. Determine how to measure success.

The final action I take before officially launching my ad is defining how to track results. I know what I want to achieve from Step 4, but I need to measure it.

I take the overarching goal I defined earlier and break it down into specific, measurable objectives. For example, suppose my goal is building brand awareness. In that case, I might define success as reaching a specific number of people with my ad on a relevant platform.

If my goal is sales, I might define success as a certain number of sales generated through ad clicks or by the use of a promo code.

Determine key performance indicators (KPIs) or metrics you’ll track to measure progress or success. KPI examples include:

• Impressions. The number of times your ad is displayed.
• Clicks. The number of times users click on your ad.
• Click-through-rate. The percentage of people who see your ad and click on it.
• Conversion rate. The percentage of people who see your ad and complete a desired action.

Don’t get overwhelmed, and try to track every possible metric. Focus on a handful that directly align with your ad campaign goals for better results. Personally, I like to focus on no more than three KPIs per campaign.

13. Launch your ad.

Now’s the moment of reckoning — putting your ad out there for the world to see. How you launch your ad will be different for each platform.

I like to review each platform's steps frequently to ensure I have all the details covered. Here are some of my favorite resources for launching ads on traditional and social media advertising platforms:

• How to Launch a Facebook Ad
• How to Launch a LinkedIn Ad
• How to Launch an Instagram Ad
• How to Launch an X (Twitter) Ad
• How to Launch a YouTube Ad
• How to Launch a Google Ad
• How to Launch a TV Ad
• How to Launch a Billboard Ad

14. Track and analyze performance.

The work isn’t over after I’ve launched my ad. While the ad runs, I need to analyze and track its performance, focusing specifically on the metrics I defined earlier.

Thankfully, most digital platforms — including search engines, social media platforms, and display networks — have built-in analytics tools that make it extremely easy to measure and track most of these metrics, including impressions, clicks, and conversions.

For those that don’t have these inbuilt analytics, most easily integrate with external tracking and ad management tools , including my favorite, HubSpot’s own Ad Management Software .

By closely monitoring an ad‘s performance, I can determine whether it’s meeting my goals and identify areas for improvement. Analyzing data over time reveals patterns and trends that help me optimize future ad campaigns for even better results.

15. Continuously optimize your ad.

Many platforms have the ability to tweak ads during their run.

I might slightly adjust the ad copy, test new visuals, refine audience targeting, or adjust spending. For example, if I run multiple ads and one starts going viral, I’ll shift some budget away from other ads and put more into the popular one.

Another powerful technique I recommend is A/B testing . For A/B testing, I create several versions of my ad with different headlines, images, and CTAs and run them at the same time to see which works better.

Over time, those results help me identify the winning elements and optimize my future ad campaigns for maximum impact.

Well-crafted ads can do wonders for your business, but the best ads require careful planning and strategic execution.

Don’t wait longer to unlock the power of effective advertising. Use our comprehensive “how to make an advertisement” guide to create eye-catching ads that produce positive outcomes for your brand.

Don't forget to share this post!

Related articles.

Everything You Need To Know About Podcast Advertising and Sponsorships

11 Best Advertising Management Software for 2024

9 Advertising Trends to Watch in 2024 [New Data + Expert Insights]

The Worst Super Bowl Ads — Avoid These Blunders

Google's Head of Technology Platforms On How First-Party Data & AI Will Transform The Ad Industry — For The Better

Online Advertising: All You Need to Know in 2024

The 18 Most Creative Ad Campaigns in History

32 Free Advertising Tips for Your Small, Large, or Local Business

How Consumers Responded to Black Friday in 2022 [+ Holiday Marketing Tips]

What is Comparative Advertising? [+ Examples]

Plan and launch an effective advertising campaign with this guide and set of templates.

Marketing software that helps you drive revenue, save time and resources, and measure and optimize your investments — all on one easy-to-use platform

How to Create An Advertisement: Guide With 8 Easy Steps

If you want to learn how to make an advertisement , you are in the right place. 

Although dedicated to those who are just grasping the surface of this industry, this article may also help skilled marketers better organize themselves. 

Table of Contents

• Set up your main objectives
• Research the market, the competition, and your audience
• Select your channels
• Craft a compelling message
• Design eye-catching visuals
• Set your budget and timeline
• Track and analyze your results
• Test and refine

What Types of Formats Are Best for Online Advertising?

Can you create an advertisement online, 1. set up your main objectives.

What is the purpose of your advertising campaign? What are your main objectives? Are your goals feasible or not? You should analyze these questions and answer them honestly. Setting clear objectives for your advertisement before starting the creative process is important. Whether you aim to boost sales, create brand awareness, drive website traffic, or generate leads, defining your objectives will guide the entire advertising process and enable you to measure success. Once you have established your objectives, you can move on to the next step and begin your research.

2. Research the market, the competition, and your audience

To create a successful advertisement, it’s important to research some key factors on which your campaign depends. Understanding the market and its behavior is crucial. This includes studying how things have changed over the past few months and what experts predict for the near future. 

You should also know your position in the market and the role of your competitors. Find out how they advertise their products, but avoid copying their campaigns. Instead, come up with something new and creative that will make your target audience convert into clients.

Of course, based on your industry and your niche, there may be other important questions to answer here such as:

• To what demographic group am I addressing my messages?
• What is my clients’ social status?
• Are they young and unemployed?
• Are they professionals from a specific niche?
• Are they old or not?
• What’s the level of their education?
• Where do they live?
• What is their relationship with the competition?

The list of questions could go on forever. What’s essential here is identifying which one of them – or maybe more – suits your goals and answers them with honesty and objectivity.Once you do this, you can move further to the next step.

3. Select your channels

Based on your demographic research, you will be able to narrow your search to some specific channels of media distribution suitable for your campaign. There are various platforms available for displaying ads, including social media, Google’s Display Network, search engines, and third-party websites. Google Display Network provides a wide range of websites, videos, and apps, which helps to reach a diverse online audience, including those who are not actively searching for your brand. 

Each platform targets different audiences and marketing expectations. Facebook and Instagram ads provide detailed targeting options, while Google Ads connects with users who are actively looking for related information.

With Creatopy, you gain the power to create a comprehensive set of banners for your online advertisements, enhancing your capabilities and efficiency.

Therefore, it will be easy to design them for different channels in less time than if you would have done it individually.

4. Craft a compelling message

Take all the information you manage to gather up to this step regarding your products and your targeted audience.

Think also about the delivery channels you have chosen for your ads and learn how to write advertisements tailored to each one of those channels. Once you have determined the delivery channels, you can start crafting a message that is easy to understand, connects with your target audience, and effectively conveys the advantages of your product or service. Address the needs, desires, or pain points of your intended audience, and emphasize what makes your offering unique from that of your competitors. Ensure that your message is consistent across all channels to reinforce your brand identity.

5. Design eye-catching visuals

Obviously, this is the hardest part of the entire advertisement creation process. Everything you have done until now has prepared you for this step. Now, it’s time to put your creativity to work and actually design your advertisements. 

Take the top three or five ideas from your previous sketches and use them to create raw advertisements. If you are using Creatopy as your main advertisement maker, all your projects will be automatically saved online. You can get back to them to make modifications, or you can share them with your peers for valuable input. It will also help you show your rough designs to people who are in your target audience. Their input and advice may help you adjust your advertisements in order to meet the targeted demographic needs and values.

6. Set your budget and timeline

To maximize your return on investment, it’s important to establish a budget for your advertising and allocate your resources accordingly. When setting your budget, you should take into account factors such as the cost of producing your ads, where they will be placed, and how long your campaign will run. Additionally, it’s essential to set a realistic timeline for each stage of the advertising process to ensure you stay on track and meet all of your deadlines.

7. Track and analyze your results

Once the designs are ready to be delivered online, you can start your campaign based on your selected delivery channels. At this point, you need to define your budget and select the criteria for publishing your advertisements on each channel in particular. Each advertising platform (or social media platform that includes paid advertising) will let you select your own parameters of delivery, based on demographics, age groups, types of websites, industries, countries, and regions, etc. Tailoring these parameters ensures your ads reach the most relevant audience for optimal engagement and results. This data is also important for your future campaigns. You will start your future design processes based on your initial results and try to improve them.

8. Test and refine

Continuously test different elements of your advertisement, including messaging, visuals, and CTAs, to identify what resonates best with your audience. A/B testing enables you to compare different variations and improve your strategy based on immediate feedback. Stay agile and adaptable, making adjustments as necessary to enhance performance and reach your goals.

When it comes to online advertising, the best format depends on various factors such as the campaign objectives, target audience, and the platform being used. However, some commonly used formats that tend to perform well include:

• Display Ads : Visual banners or sidebar ads for brand awareness and traffic.
• Video Ads : Engaging storytelling on platforms like YouTube to showcase products/services.
• Social Media Ads : Sponsored posts, carousels, or Stories ads for targeted audience reach.
• Search Ads : Text-based ads on search engine results pages (SERPs) to capture user intent.
• Native Ads : Seamless integration with platform content for a less disruptive experience.
• Interstitial Ads : Full-screen ads before accessing content are effective but should be used sparingly.
• Interactive Ads : Engaging content like games or quizzes to drive user interaction and attention.

Many people who are new to the marketing industry often assume that designing a banner requires professional software and design skills. While this may be true for some specific tasks, it is not always the case. Nowadays, creating banners for online advertising campaigns has become a relatively simple process if you know where to look and which tools to use. Therefore, the conclusion is that it is now easier than ever to create an advertisement using an online tool.

Related articles:

How to Design TikTok Ads That Will Skyrocket Your Brand

How to Create Animated Facebook Ads that Convert

20 Cool Banner Ads Examples Every Marketer Should Know

When we think about advertisement design, most of us imagine that it starts with the actual design and ends with the setting up of a delivery channel.

However, if you want your job to be professional and thorough, you need to do everything by the book. This means that you need to understand the entire process behind an advertising campaign. It starts with an in-depth analysis of your company and products to be advertised, followed by extensive research on the market and the targeted population.

When you get to actually design the banners, you already know exactly what to expect from your campaign. You know what types of individuals make the audience you are addressing your messages to and how to properly quantify the results. 

It’s now easier than ever to design a professional banner thanks to the available online tools such as Creatopy. However, you can make things even easier by going through each of these steps and base your design on actual data. It’s quite possible that when you’ll get to the sixth step, you will already have a few ideas in mind, at least a starting point from which to go on with your design. We hope we helped you understand better what makes a good advertisement.

How many of these steps did you actually go through on each of your marketing campaigns?

26 Comments

Can i call u Gab,….. u are dame Good

Well presented

its very helpful

yes the information is very useful

very nice post thanks for sharing with us this post really helpful for me

Thanks for sharing with us it is presented well

I find it cool when you said that a company should start planning out their advertisement by researching their ideal audience for it based on their typology and personality. Another way to go about this is to ask a local production company to do it for them. That way, one can focus on selling more products and get an expert opinion on how to attract more customers in the process.

This article is very helpful to me, I always don’t know how to make advertising material, before I used a tool called bigspy to look up a material, now I have some new ideas

This is really interesting, I now know what I need to do, Thanks guys.

Very helpful

This responded one of the questions of my summative from design. It was super helpful. Continue the great work.

hey gabriel im a person that will look forward to doing this

Every time I watch an ad or a commercial on TV, I always think to myself how did it manage to keep me watching till the end. There are some commercials I feel like I want to pay attention to and some that I don’t, and so it helped when your article pointed out that identifying a target audience is key for effective advertising. Many times I find myself watching ads whenever the person on the screen involved is a middle-aged worker like me, and so I can feel that connection. If ever I were to make an ad or commercial, I’d make sure that I would get my target audience in mind and then get some video editing done to make sure that it appeals to said audience, most likely that would require some professional help.

Yes this was good I’m on a start to make some money

As a marketing analyst I found this piece to be very insightful and timely. Exactly what i needed.

very much helpful. Was looking for something like this to refer and get an idea on how to create advertisements online. I think if you put these steps in a flowchart https://creately.com/lp/flowchart-software/ and if we can get the outcome we can easily implement the plan right?

Nice, but I do not understand this

any way how do you make the ad

Hi, Adam. You can create a free Creatopy account and design an ad starting with one of our templates.

Very well articulated

Nice Article. Helpful. Well explained on how to create advertisement online.

I wanna start my own ads!!

Hi, Hazel. That’s a great idea. Have you tried designing them with Creatopy?

Comments are closed.

You may also like

Creative Facebook Carousel Ads Examples & Templates To Start From in 2024

How to Write Effective Ad Copy? Ad Copywriting Guide for 2024

More in online advertising.

What are Video Banner Ads: Types, Benefits and How to Make Them

What is Online Advertising: Types, Benefits, Challenges, Best Practices

What is Banner Advertising and How do Banner Ads Work?

• Inspiration
• – Display ads
• – Social media ads
• – Video ads
• – Automation
• – Collaboration
• – Animation
• Product updates
• Start free trial

Latest Posts

What is ad exchange in advertising, what is ad dimension in advertising.

• PRO Courses Guides New Tech Help Pro Expert Videos About wikiHow Pro Upgrade Sign In
• EDIT Edit this Article
• EXPLORE Tech Help Pro About Us Random Article Quizzes Request a New Article Community Dashboard This Or That Game Popular Categories Arts and Entertainment Artwork Books Movies Computers and Electronics Computers Phone Skills Technology Hacks Health Men's Health Mental Health Women's Health Relationships Dating Love Relationship Issues Hobbies and Crafts Crafts Drawing Games Education & Communication Communication Skills Personal Development Studying Personal Care and Style Fashion Hair Care Personal Hygiene Youth Personal Care School Stuff Dating All Categories Arts and Entertainment Finance and Business Home and Garden Relationship Quizzes Cars & Other Vehicles Food and Entertaining Personal Care and Style Sports and Fitness Computers and Electronics Health Pets and Animals Travel Education & Communication Hobbies and Crafts Philosophy and Religion Work World Family Life Holidays and Traditions Relationships Youth
• Browse Articles
• Learn Something New
• Quizzes Hot
• This Or That Game
• Train Your Brain
• Explore More
• Support wikiHow
• About wikiHow
• Log in / Sign up
• Finance and Business
• Advertising
• Creating Advertisements

How to Create an Advertisement

Last Updated: May 7, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by James McKenna . James McKenna is a Copywriter and Producer in Cincinnati, Ohio. James produces freelance content, including print ads, television commercials, and websites. He has over 15 years of experience in general advertising and marketing for clients such as US Bank, Cintas, and Procter & Gamble. There are 14 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 1,368,948 times.

Crafting an advertisement that entices potential consumers might seem difficult, but it's simpler than you think. The simpler the better, in fact. An ad sums up everything that is smart, innovative, and distinguished about your brand, and is almost indispensable in today's economic marketplace. Note

that in today's digital environment, ads are evolving rapidly. There are many companies using little if any traditional advertising and instead relying on social media. Although the platforms may change over time, the basic tenants of advertising will continue to apply. To plan, write, design, and test an ad, follow these steps.

Understanding Your Audience

• If you are creating an advertisement for a baby stroller, the audience is more likely going to be new moms than people who don't even have a baby.
• If you are creating an advertisement for a graphics card, your audience probably knows enough about computers to realize that they can upgrade their old graphics card.

• What approximate age or gender are they?
• Do they live in a major city or a more rural setting?
• What is their income range? Are they wealthy CEOs or college students on a budget?
• What other products do they use or enjoy? Do they use other products made by your company?

• When will they use it? Will they use it immediately, or when they need it?
• How often will they use your product? Once? Daily? Weekly?
• Will they immediately recognize its benefits/functions or will you have to teach them?

• Ask yourself: do other products exist besides yours that perform similar functions? If so, focus on the differences, especially how your product exceeds the competitor's.

• Do customers recognize/trust your brand already?
• Are you hoping to convert people currently using the competition's product?
• Will you target those without a current solution? If your product the only one like this?

• Strategy is a complex topic, but by focusing on the desires, strengths, and possible future actions of the 3 players on the field (yourself, your customer, and your competition), anyone can build a complex strategy over time.

Writing the Advertisement

• Rhyme – “Do you Yahoo?”
• Humor – “Dirty mouth? Clean it with Orbit chewing gum!”
• A play on words – “Every kiss begins with ‘Kay’”
• Creative imagery – Yellow Pages: “Let your fingers do the walking”
• Metaphor – “Red Bull gives you wings”
• Alliteration – “Intel Inside”
• A personal pledge – Motel 6: “We leave the light on for you”
• Dry understatement – Carlsberg beer has a big sign in downtown Copenhagen that reads, “Probably the best beer in town”.

• What matters most is how the consumer feels, not what they think. If they feel good about your brand, you've done your job.
• Startling the reader into paying attention is especially useful if you have a lot to say. For example, this long, environmentally-oriented announcement wouldn’t turn many heads if it weren’t for the unusual, confrontational tagline; if the reader wants to get the joke, she or he has to read more.
• Know how to walk the line between controversial and entertaining. Pushing the limits of good taste to help your ad grab attention is common practice, but don't go too far — you want your product to be recognized on its own merits, not because it was tied to a tasteless advertisement.

• Repetition : Getting your product to stick by repeating key elements. People often have to hear your name many times before they even know that they heard it (Jingles are one way to do this, but can also be annoying). If you go this route, brainstorm a more creative, less obvious repetition technique such as the one that was used in the Budweiser frog commercials (“bud-weis-er-bud-weis-er-bud-weis-er”). people think they hate repetition, but they remember and that's half the battle.
• Common sense : Challenging the consumer to think of a good reason why not to purchase a product or service.
• Humor : Making the consumer laugh, thereby making yourself more likeable and memorable. This pairs especially well with refreshing honesty. Not the most successful business in your class? Advertise that your lines are shorter.
• Exigency : Convincing the customer that time is of the essence. Limited-time only offers, fire sales, and the like are the commonest ways to do this, but again, avoid meaningless phrases that will slip under your customers’ radar.

• Kids tend to be over-stimulated, so you will need to grab their attention on multiple levels, with color, sound, and imagery.
• Young adults appreciate humor and tend to respond to trendiness and peer influence.
• Adults will be more discerning and respond to quality, sophisticated humor, and value.

• Ask yourself if your product or event is aspirational. Are you selling something that people would buy in order to feel better about their social or economic status? For instance, you might be selling tickets to a benefit gala that is designed to feel elegant and luxurious, even if the ticket price is well below what most wealthy people would be able to pay. If you are selling an inspirational product, try to make your advertisement exude an air of indulgence.
• Determine whether or not your product is for practical means. If you're selling something like a vacuum cleaner, designed to perform common tasks or make life easier for the consumer, spin it in a different direction. Instead of emphasizing luxury, focus on how the product or event will provide relaxation and peace of mind to your consumer.
• Is there an unmet desire or need, any frustration in the mind of your consumer, that will create a market for your particular product? Assess the need gap that exists for the product or service.

• The most important element is what's called a "call to action". What should the consumer do immediately after viewing the ad? Be sure to let them know!

• For instance, if you're promoting a vacuum cleaner, it might sell better in the spring, when people are undertaking spring cleaning.

Designing an Advertisement

• For example, this Burger King ad mocks the size of the Big Mac while speaking the literal truth: that is a Big Mac box, after all, leaving McDonald's no legal ground from which to retaliate.

• Do you already have a logo? If you can, think of fresh and creative ways of re-imagining it.
• Do you have a commonly-used color scheme to work with? If your brand is instantly recognizable by the colors in the ad or the logo, use this to your advantage. McDonald's, Google, and Coca-Cola are good examples.

• If you're making a small-scale print ad (such as a flyer or magazine advertisement), try using a program such as Adobe InDesign or Photoshop. Or, if you're looking for a free option, you can use GIMP or Pixlr.
• If you're making a video ad, try working with iMovie, Picasa, or Windows Media Player.
• For an audio ad, you can work with Audacity or iTunes.
• For a large-scale print ad (such as a banner or billboard), you'll probably have to contact a print shop to get the work done. Ask which software they recommend using.

Testing an Advertisement

• Make your ads noticeable, but don't make them annoying. People tend to dislike giant ads, pop-ups, and anything that tends to play loud music randomly.
• If you make your ad annoying, people are more likely to turn it off. This won't get you many views.

• Keep track of the number of views each page receives. This will make it even easier to see what works and what doesn't. A simple counter would work.
• Even if you really like a certain design, your audience may not like it. If it doesn't get enough views, try a different approach.

• Not a fan of color? Play around with different shapes, sizes, and fonts.

• Did sales spike, drop, or stay the same after your ad?
• Did your ad contribute to the new numbers?
• Ask yourself why the sales changed. Were they due to the ad or forces beyond your control (i.e.: a recession).

Community Q&A

• Check, recheck and check your ad copy again. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Ads cost a lot of money, and a good ad takes your dollar a long way. It might be worth paying a professional copywriter for a great ad. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• Less is always more. The less a reader has to read or the less a listener has to hear, the more effective your ad will be. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://www.sba.gov/business-guide/plan-your-business/market-research-competitive-analysis
• ↑ https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/marketing-sales/market-customer-research/plan-conduct
• ↑ https://www.infoentrepreneurs.org/en/guides/understand-your-competitors/
• ↑ https://www.smallbusiness.wa.gov.au/marketing/8-steps-to-marketing/
• ↑ https://www.gov.scot/publications/scotlands-national-strategy-economic-transformation/pages/5/
• ↑ https://agriculture.vermont.gov/telling-your-farms-story-part-1-crafting-your-tagline
• ↑ https://www.marketing-schools.org/types-of-marketing/persuasion-marketing.html
• ↑ https://hbr.org/2011/12/know-what-your-customers-want-before-they-do
• ↑ https://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/attachments/press-releases/ftc-staff-revises-online-advertising-disclosure-guidelines/130312dotcomdisclosures.pdf
• ↑ https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/marketing-sales/marketing-promotion/advertising/planning
• ↑ https://www.business.govt.nz/business-performance/business-strategy/looking-outwards-at-your-market/
• ↑ https://business.gov.au/planning/protect-your-brand-idea-or-creation/designs
• ↑ https://pdp.ed.gov/osep
• ↑ https://business.gov.au/marketing/promoting-your-business-by-email-or-text-messages

About This Article

You can create a great advertisement by coming up with a catchy tagline, which will help people remember your ad. Try crafting a humorous line or a phrase that rhymes, so it will be even more memorable. Consider writing something along the lines of “Every kiss begins with Kay” or “Red Bull gives you wings!”. Make sure to avoid overusing phrases like “new and improved” or “free gift”, since many consumers have already heard these phrases in advertisements, and may be tempted to ignore what you have to say. Instead, use simple, relevant information, including your location, phone number, and website so people know how to contact you. Besides writing a good script, you should also make an ad that appeals to your target audience. For example, if you’re making a toy commercial for kids, make sure to use bright, attention grabbing colors and schedule the ad for a Saturday morning when kids will be watching TV. To learn how to design a business logo, read more from our Advertising co-author! Did this summary help you? Yes No

• Send fan mail to authors

Reader Success Stories

Madhur Tyagi

Nov 15, 2016

Did this article help you?

May 29, 2017

Shreya Singh

Oct 24, 2016

May 9, 2019

Carissa Phillipson

Jun 18, 2017

Featured Articles

Trending Articles

Watch Articles

• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Do Not Sell or Share My Info
• Not Selling Info

Don’t miss out! Sign up for

wikiHow’s newsletter

Create An Advertisement Activity | FACS, English, ELA

What educators are saying

Also included in.

Description

Create An Advertisement This assignment helps students think about how companies get customers to buy their goods and services. This lesson provides information on the techniques of advertising and the criteria for creating an advertisement assignment.

Recommended Resources

Advertising Resources

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Check out the other 300+ resources that I sell!

✔️ Resources in My Store!

✔️ Newsletter

✔️ Facebook Great Videos and Resources to Use in Class

✔️ Pinterest

✔️ Email List- I will send you one free resource of your choice!

I would love to hear from you! I value customer reviews so please consider rating my resources. Thank you! If you have any questions or comments, please message me. I am happy to answer questions! [email protected]

If you want to hear about sales or new resources in my store follow me with the green star on my home page. All About Food and Life Skills

Questions & Answers

All about food and life skills facs.

• We're hiring
• Help & FAQ
• Privacy policy
• Student privacy
• Terms of service
• Tell us what you think

Entertaining Advertisement Ideas for School Projects

• kellylynnmarie
• Categories : Help with english grammar & vocabulary
• Tags : Homework help & study guides

Advertisement Ideas for School

An advertisement can be just about anything that draws attention to a particular thing such as a product, service or event. Advertisements are all around us - the billboards you see, the side of the coffee cup from the store, and even bumper stickers. No matter where you are, there is probably an ad somewhere within eyesight. The purpose of advertising is to make people aware that the product exists and to entice them to try it out. Though advertising is mainly used in selling a product, it does have a positive and very useful side as well, whether you are the consumer or seller. This article will give you some advertisement ideas for school projects. Make an advertisement for a book report or create an ad for your favorite Periodic Table element! [caption id=“attachment_130746” align=“aligncenter” width=“640”]

Creating an Ad for a School Project

Creating an advertisement for a school project is an entertaining way to present your subject. One fun and entertaining advertisement exercise can be done in conjunction with reading a book. Each student can choose a character in the book and create advertisements and posters to promote their character. One example is to use the book <em>Lord of the Flies</em> . As the students read the book and discussions are done daily in class, the students can each choose or be assigned a character to follow carefully. While the characters in the book are creating their government, the students can create posters and ads to promote their character to be voted as president. This can be done both individually or in teams. Grading can be based on a final vote from the class, or even several classes, who have seen the advertisements to determine which character will win the election. The winning student or team can then receive extra credit points for his or her assignment.

Tips for Successful (and Entertaining) Advertisements

To have a successful and equally entertaining advertisement, there are several things to be sure to include.

• The fewer words, the better. By leaving some blank space, the few words that you include will have more of an impact and will catch the eye of the reader faster and easier. Do not feel like you need to fill in every space there is because the ad will become too ‘busy’ and difficult to read. Picking out the important and necessary information can be made difficult by too much wordage.
• Create a motto or catchy phrase to go along with the context of the advertisement. Even if it’s slightly off, it doesn’t matter if it’s memorable. The key here is to make sure the product or reason for the ad can also be remembered.
• Use colors to make certain things stand out whether it’s a single word or a phrase. Pick out one thing to focus on so if someone is quickly passing and can catch only one thing, it’s the most important.
• Use pictures. By adding pictures to your ad, it will break up the words and sometimes a picture will catch a person’s eye more than words will. There is less work and concentration needed for viewing a photo than there is for reading. Draw people in with a photo first.
• Have fun and get creative when designing your advertisement. As long as it is easy to read, appropriate for all ages, and has something to attract people, it can be an extremely successful ad for a school project or anything else.

A successful ad also heavily depends on the product or service being promoted or sold. Some products and services will be much harder to create an ad for whereas some will absolutely lend themselves to advertising. The key is to make it original so it stands out from the crowd. Get creative and have fun! For more advertisement ideas for school, take special note of the television ads when watching your favorite show. What are they trying to sell or promote? Was it effective? Was it entertaining? How could it have been done better? Image by  Vinson Tan ( 楊 祖 武 )  from  Pixabay

Persuasive Techniques in Advertising

• Resources & Preparation
• Instructional Plan
• Related Resources

Students will learn persuasive techniques used in advertising, specifically, pathos or emotion, logos or logic, and ethos or credibility/character. They will use this knowledge to analyze advertising in a variety of sources: print, television, and Web-based advertising. Students will also explore the concepts of demographics and marketing for a specific audience. The lesson will culminate in the production of an advertisement in one of several various forms of media, intended for a specific demographic.

Featured Resources

The Art of Rhetoric: Persuasive Techniques in Advertising : This online video describes how advertisers use pathos or emotion, logos or logic, and ethos or credibility/character in order to persuade consumers.

Persuasive Techniques in Advertising Video Transcription : A transcript of the video provided by Chelsea Majors

From Theory to Practice

Students encounter advertising at every turn of their lives: on public billboards, during nearly every television show, on the Internet, on their cell phones, and even in schools.  They are undoubtedly aware that these ads have a specific purpose: to sell something to them.  Rarely, however, do teenagers think precisely about how the text, sounds, and images in these advertisements have been carefully crafted to persuade them to purchase a product or service-and that these techniques are not far from those they have already used in their own persuasive writing. We emphasize the need to make our students more literate, and this lesson aims to improve their critical media literacy.  By reducing advertising to its basic rhetorical components, students "can begin to understand how to construct their own messages to convey the meanings they intend and to evoke the responses they desire" (173).  Becoming more media literate allows our youth to "create messages of their own so that they can communicate clearly, effectively, and purposefully" (176). Further Reading

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

• 1. Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.
• 3. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).
• 4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
• 6. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
• 8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
• 12. Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

Materials and Technology

• Video of television program, including commercials  
• TV with VCR/DVD player  
• Advertisements from magazines  
• Persuasive Techniques in Advertising online video
• Persuasive Techniques in Advertising Video Transcription  
• Internet-connected computer with speakers and projector  
• Web Resources for Finding Example Advertisements
• Demographics: Who Are You?
• Advertising Advantages: Television vs. Print vs. Online  
• Targeted Commercials  
• Commercial Dig  
• Commercial Dig Reflection Questions  
• Analyzing Ads  
• Planning Your Advertisement  
• Commercial Assessment  
• Persuasive Techniques in Advertising Reflection Questions

Preparation

• Make copies of the necessary handouts.  
• Gather advertisements from magazines-ideally, two per student. Look for ads that lend themselves well to the assignment, with a balance of text and images and with fairly discernable examples of pathos, logos, and ethos. Consider asking your school library media specialist for issues of magazines he or she plans to discard.  
• Record at least part of a television program, including the entirety of one commercial break, for showing in class.  
• If students will be using the Venn Diagram , Comic Creator , or Printing Press , arrange for them to have access during the appropriate sessions.  
• Preview the Persuasive Techniques in Advertising online video and obtain proper technology for projecting it in the classroom or computer lab. Also check out the  Persuasive Techniques in Advertising Video Transcription .  
• Arrange for students to have access to computers for Sessions Three and Four.  
• Bookmark the Web Resources for Finding Example Advertisements and preview the sites before recommending which ones students visit for example advertisements.  
• Familiarize yourself with the technologies discussed in the final session, deciding which you are prepared to ask or require students to use in the production of their own ads. Contact your school library media specialist or technology specialist for assistance.

Student Objectives

Students will

• demonstrate an understanding of three persuasive techniques (pathos, logos, and ethos) and other advertising strategies.  
• analyze advertisements according to their employment of these techniques.  
• demonstrate an understanding of the concept of demographics and specific audience.  
• synthesize this knowledge into advertisements of their own creation.

Session One

• Where do you encounter advertising?  (They will likely mention television, billboards, radio, Websites, school hallways, and so on.)  
• Which specific advertisements "stick in your head?"  
• What makes these advertisements memorable?  (They might mention music, catchy slogans, celebrity appearance, the appeal of the product itself, and so forth.)  
• Do you think advertisements have an effect on your personal interests?  
• Explain to students that advertisers very carefully construct their ads to make them memorable and appealing to consumers, and that the ways in which they try to convince them to buy products are similar to the ways they have been taught to write persuasively, using certain techniques and aiming toward a particular audience.  
• Distribute the Persuasive Techniques in Advertising handout and introduce the concepts of pathos, logos, and ethos, defined at the top of the handout.  Students should understand that these rhetorical strategies are similar to those used in a persuasive writing assignment, and that they will use these strategies when creating their own commercial by the end of this unit.  Encourage students to make connections to examples of each of the terms they have used in persuasive writing of their own. Note: This is an appropriate time to clarify that the word logos in this context should not be confused with a brand-specific image or insignia referred to as a logo.  
• After explaining the concepts of pathos, logos, and ethos, have students practice identifying the three techniques by placing a P , L , or E in the blank next to the examples at the bottom of this handout.  Have students share their responses with a partner and check for understanding by conducting a brief discussion of the examples.  
• Although most of these examples were designed to have one clear answer, be sure to emphasize to the students that pathos, logos, and ethos are not always separate entities and may often overlap with one another. For example, "Nine out of ten dentists choose Crest," suggests that the dentists are credible experts (ethos), and also includes a statistic (logos).   
• Deepen students' understanding of the concepts of pathos, logos, and ethos with visual examples by sharing with them the Persuasive Techniques in Advertising online video . You may want to pause and have students explain how the television, print, and online advertisements utilize the three rhetorical strategies.  The narration in the commercial further explains their use in each advertisement. There is also the  Persuasive Techniques in Advertising Video Transcription .  
• Briefly discuss the "Other Advertising Strategies" section of Persuasive Techniques in Advertising handout.  Explain that these are more specific types of strategies that advertisers use and that many overlap with pathos, logos, and ethos.   For example, you may mention that patriotism is a strategy meant to evoke certain emotions, and would therefore constitute a use of pathos.  
• Close the session by explaining to students that in future sessions, they will be examining existing advertisements with their new analytical skill and applying it to creating ads of their own.  
• Encourage students to begin looking at advertisements they encounter in terms of these three techniques.

Session Two

• Begin with a brief review of the concepts of pathos, logos, and ethos from the previous session.  Ask students to demonstrate their growing understanding by providing examples of each of the techniques from advertisements they have recently seen.  
• Now introduce the term demographics to students: the characteristics that make up a human population such as gender, age, and race.  Have students discover which demographic group(s) they fit into by completing the Demographics: Who are you? handout.  When creating their group commercials in a later session, students will need to consider the demographics for their product. Explain to students that this is how advertisers think of consumers: not as individuals, but as members of groups that tend to believe, behave, or purchase in certain patterns. Even when an advertisement is appealing to the idea of individuality (such as Burger King's "Have It Your Way" promotion), advertisers are appealing to the demographic group of "people who like to be thought of as individuals," not to any single consumer.  
• Continue the discussion of demographics by distributing the Targeted Commercials handout, which will further explore the concept of demographics. Ask students to begin applying their understanding of demographics and targeted advertising by showing the first part of a television program of your choice.  Since the purpose of this activity is to show how advertisers cater to a show's intended audience, you may want to make sure you are presenting a show with commercials that very obviously target a specific demographic.   
• Before watching, share with students a brief description of the show they are about to see, including race/gender/class of the main characters, genre of the program, and the time/date/channel on which the program aired.  Have students use these factors (and any other prior knowledge they may have of the show) to determine the probable demographics.  Students should indicate their choices on the handout .  
• While students watch the commercial break(s), have them take brief notes to remind them of the products being advertised.  
• Have students complete the "After the program" response question at the bottom of the Targeted Commercials handout.  Then discuss the degrees to which the advertisements match the demographics of the likely intended audience of the television program.   
• This would be an appropriate time to talk about clear evidence that programming and advertising are marketed to specific groups.  Lifetime: Television for Women, Spike! TV, Logo, and Black Entertainment Television all exist not only to give viewers programming they might like, but also to allow advertisers to target their audiences more specifically.  
• Distribute the Commercial Dig activity, explaining to students that this is a long-term assignment that requires them to keep track of eight commercials viewed during one television program and to explain briefly the purpose of each advertised product. Remind students that the commercials they record on this chart should all come from the same show, as the completed chart will be used to re-emphasize the concepts of demographics and targeted advertising. Inform them that this assignment should be completed by Session Four and ask if there are questions before closing the session.

Session Three

• Remind students what they have learned so far in this lesson: techniques advertisers use to persuade consumers to buy their products and the concept of "targeting" certain audience demographics to make the process of persuasion more efficient and focused.  
• Explain to students that they will have the opportunity to apply this knowledge by looking at some real ads for real products.  Share that the goal of this activity will be to examine how advertisers skillfully use multiple strategies to persuade their audiences.  
• Distribute the Analyzing Ads handout and discuss the expectations and format for response.  Students will analyze six advertisements: two print ads, two television commercials, and two Internet advertisements.  The Internet advertisements should take the form of marketing Websites featuring a particular product, or pop-ups/embedded ads in Websites unrelated to the product.  
• This activity will allow students to practice their recognition of pathos, logos, and ethos in three different modes of advertising, preparing them for the creation of their own commercials.  Students should also record any of the "other strategies" explained on Persuasive Techniques in Advertising handout, also required as part of the final project.  
• Share with students the print ads you already collected as well as the Web Resources for Finding Example Advertisements and have them look for ads. Point out to students that they may wish to access television ads on their own time, including during their work on the Commercial Dig activity. Depending on how efficiently students work through this activity, this part of the lesson will likely extend into the next session.

Session Four

• At an appropriate time in student engagement in the continuation of the analysis activity from the previous session, distribute the Commercial Assessment rubric and explain that you will use it to evaluate the commercials they will produce in an upcoming session. Ask students, in small groups, to review one of the teacher- or student-selected commercials and apply the rubric to the commercial.  Students should determine whether the commercial effectively utilizes pathos, logos, and/or ethos, and note their score on the rubric . Students should also indicate the effectiveness of any of the "other strategies" on the second page of the rubric .  
• When students are ready, check for understanding by several volunteers present one of the advertisements they analyzed, briefly discussing the effective use of persuasive techniques.  
• Wrap up this section of the lesson by using the Advertising Advantages: Television vs. Print vs. Online to engage students in a discussion of the advantages of each mode of advertising, using the examples on the handout as a guide.  This discussion will help students decide which modes of advertising they might use when creating their commercials in the next session.  You may wish to use the Venn Diagram to facilitate this discussion.  
• Remind students that they will need to have their completed Commercial Dig activity ready for discussion in the next session.

Session Five

• Ask students to get out their completed Commercial Dig activity sheets.  Give students the opportunity to solidify their understanding of the concept of demographics by working through the analysis tasks in the Commercial Dig Reflection Questions .  Have students use their completed charts to answer the reflection questions . Students should talk through their responses with a partner before producing a written response.  
• Which advertisements could be viewed as harmful or unfair to a group of people?  
• Can targeting a specific demographic sometimes encourage stereotyping?  
• When do you see stereotyping used in advertisements?
• You may wish to give students access to the online articles Target me with your ads, please and Mixed Messages , which discuss how Websites use technology to target consumers and the use of billboards in impoverished and minority neighborhoods, respectively, as part of this discussion.

Session Six

• Students will use this session to begin to synthesize all they have learned about advertising and begin creating a commercial for a fictional product.  First ask students to form small groups and decide on a product to advertise.  
• Next, students should determine the target audience for their product, remembering previous lessons on demographics.  
• Depending on available time and resources, ask students to create a print, filmed, live, and/or Internet advertisement for their product.  They should take into account their observations from the Advertising Advantages: Television vs. Print vs. Online .  
• Have students use the Planning Your Advertisement sheet to plan for an advertisement that will target the previously determined demographic, and demonstrate pathos, logos, ethos, and three of the "other strategies." This may also be an appropriate time to review the expectations set forth in the Commercial Assessment rubric.  
• Give students access to the Comic Creator and/or the Printing Press to create the print advertisement.  Free software such as iMovie and Windows Movie Maker may be used to edit any filmed commercials.  Web creation sites such as PBWorks and Google Sites may be used to create Internet-based advertisements.

Session Seven (after students have had time to prepare their advertisements)

• Give students time to meet in their groups and plan the presentation of their ads.  
• Have each group present, allowing time for discussion with the class about the effective use of persuasive techniques in each advertisement.  
• After the presentations and discussion are complete, distribute the  Persuasive Techniques in Advertising Reflection Questions and give students time to solidify their learning by responding to the four questions.

Student Assessment / Reflections

• Use the lesson reflection questions to allow students to think about what they have learned about advertising and persuasion.  
• Use the Commercial Assessment rubric to assess student work on their advertisements.
• Professional Library
• Student Interactives
• Lesson Plans
• Strategy Guides
• Calendar Activities

The Comic Creator invites students to compose their own comic strips for a variety of contexts (prewriting, pre- and postreading activities, response to literature, and so on).

The interactive Printing Press is designed to assist students in creating newspapers, brochures, and flyers.

This interactive tool allows students to create Venn diagrams that contain two or three overlapping circles, enabling them to organize their information logically.

Students analyze rhetorical strategies in online editorials, building knowledge of strategies and awareness of local and national issues. This lesson teaches students connections between subject, writer, and audience and how rhetorical strategies are used in everyday writing.

Add new comment

• Print this resource

Explore Resources by Grade

• Kindergarten K

In order to continue enjoying our site, we ask that you confirm your identity as a human. Thank you very much for your cooperation.

Pearce Center for Professional Communication

Clemson University

Create an Ad Activity

Assignment Created by: Stephen Montgomery

Assignment Description This activity is designed for students to work on blending the different rhetorical tools we have been discussing. It is meant to appear early in the semester, a class or two after a discussion of the different rhetorical strategies or devices. It is meant to help them as they work towards the Landmark Analysis project. This activity can be done either in a group or singly, although I elected to have it performed as a group activity in case some students are uncomfortable with the graphic design element. Students are to work in Canva, a free design website, to create an ad for a product with which they are familiar, something that they use every day. Once they complete the ad, they are to write a short reflection demonstrating how the ad is persuasive. They must point to at least three examples of how the elements of rhetoric are working in the ad. I do grade the assignment, and it was going to take the place of their in-class participation for the day. 

Instructions for Students

For this assignment, to be completed in class, you will need to create an ad of your own using Canva. You can sign up for Canva here. Please choose a product that you are familiar with, such as an item that you use every day.

Once the ad is complete, please explain how the ad is persuasive. Point to at least three examples. How are the elements of Rhetoric that we have discussed working in your ad?

You will upload the ad as a pdf and the explanation to Canvas using this assignment page. Please list each group member’s name in the written portion of this assignment.

Create an Ad Activity Rubric

Share this:

• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

• Help Center
• Campaign Manager 360
• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Service
• Submit feedback
• Announcements

Edit assignments

Ad creation for creative-placement assignments.

You only need this step when you assign creatives to placements.

When you assign creatives to placements, Campaign Manager 360 automatically creates ads, assigns your creatives to them, and then assigns the ads to your placements. Creatives need to meet all of the size and duration-orientation requirements for the display placements you're assigning them to. You'll be able to choose if you want to create one ad per size or a single ad that inherits all of the sizes of the creatives assigned to it. 

Review your options. They're slightly different depending on whether you selected creatives or placements at the beginning of your workflow.

Select creatives and assign to placements

Here are some common options when you're working with single-size placements and creatives:

Campaign Manager 360 creates one ad and assigns all the creatives you selected to it. These creatives are listed in the header. Campaign Manager 360 assigns this ad to every placement you marked Assigned in the previous step.

For example, say you select three creatives and mark five placements Assigned : this option creates one ad, assigns all three creatives to it, and then assigns the same ad to all five placements. That means one ad is assigned to five different placements.

Campaign Manager 360 creates a different ad for each creative you selected, and assigns each creative to its own ad. Campaign Manager 360 then assigns all these ads to the placements you marked Assigned in the previous step.

For example, say you select three creatives and mark five placements Assigned: this option creates one ad for each creative and then assigns all three ads to the five placements you marked.

Campaign Manager 360 creates a different ad for each placement you marked Assigned in the previous step. Campaign Manager 360 then assigns all the creatives you selected to these ads. Every ad gets all your creatives, but each ad goes to a different placement.

For example, say you assign three creatives to five placements: this option creates five ads and assigns all your creatives to every ad. Then Campaign Manager 360 assigns each ad to a different placement. So five placements each get their own ad, and every ad has all three creatives.

Campaign Manager 360 creates a different ad for each creative-placement assignment. That means every placement marked Assigned gets a new ad for each of your selected creatives.

Let's start with a simple example. Say you assign two creatives to two placements: you assign Creative A and Creative B to Placement A and Placement B. This option creates two ads for the first placement and another two ads for the second placement. That means four ads: one for each placement-creative assignment.

Ad 1 with Creative A, assigned to Placement A

Ad 2 with Creative B, assigned to Placement A

Ad 3 with Creative A, assigned to Placement B

Ad 4 with Creative B, assigned to Placement B

Or, if you assign three creatives to five placements, that's fifteen ads: each placement gets one ad for each creative.

Another way to look at this: Campaign Manager 360 creates a unique ad for every radio button set to Assigned in the previous step. Each unique ad is assigned only to the placement marked Assigned .

Select placements and assign creatives

Here are your options:

Campaign Manager 360 creates one ad and assigns to it all the creatives you marked Assigned in the previous step. Campaign Manager 360 assigns this ad to every placement you selected.

For example, say you select five placements and mark three creatives Assigned : this option creates one ad, assigns all three creatives to it, and then assigns the same ad to all five placements. That means one ad is assigned to five different placements.

Campaign Manager 360 creates a different ad for each placement you selected. Each ad gets all the creatives you marked Assigned in the previous step. Campaign Manager 360 assigns one ad to each placement.

For example, say you select 5 placements and mark 3 creatives Assigned: this option creates one ad for each creative. That's 3 ads. Each ad gets a different creative. Each placement gets all 3 ads.

Campaign Manager 360 creates a different ad for each creative you marked Assigned in the previous step. Campaign Manager 360 then assigns all the placements you selected to these ads. Every ad gets all your creatives, but each ad goes to a different placement.

For example, say you assign three creatives to five placements: this option creatives five ads and assigns all your creatives to every ad. Then Campaign Manager 360 assigns each ad to a different placement. So five placements each get their own ad, and every ad has all three creatives.

Campaign Manager 360 creates a different ad for each creative-placement assignment. That means every creative marked Assigned gets a new ad for each of your selected placements.

Another way to look at this: Campaign Manager 360 creates a unique ad for every radio button set to Assigned in the previous step. Each unique ad gets a different creative.

Was this helpful?

Need more help, try these next steps:.

Prepare for a world without third-party cookies and unlock the AI opportunity by adopting a durable measurement setup. Start Today

Free Online Ad Maker

Design eye-catching ads online effortlessly with Fotor's ad maker. Choose from a variety of professional advertisement design templates and create captivating ads in minutes.

Start Fast with Editable Advertisement Templates

Have no idea how to make an ad design from scratch? Our ad maker provides you with a wide range of editable advertisement templates for every industry and purpose. E-commerce, catering, fashion, real estate, education, and a whole lot more. Each template is carefully created by professional designers. You can freely edit it to fit your needs. Pick a template you like to start making ads now!

Advertisement Design Made Easy for Everyone

No design experience? No problem! Our user-friendly interface makes it simple for anyone to make an advertisement in no time. With just a few simple clicks, you can quickly replace images, and modify text content to make the advertisement template your own. In addition, you can experiment with various fonts and text effects, add icons, change backgrounds, and more. No complicated design software or design skills are needed. It's never been easier to create eye-catching ads that capture the attention of your target audience using our ad maker.

Customize Ad Designs with Rich Elements

No need to spend hours searching for the right fonts or images. Our advertisement maker offers a built-in library of design assets to help you perfect your ad design. Get access to millions of high-quality stock images, illustrations, and icons. Plus, we also provide a variety of fonts and text effects to suit any style or branding. You have everything you need right at your fingertips. Creating visually appealing and engaging ads has never been easier!

Make Custom Advertisements to Promote Your Business

The endless stream of advertisements has made the chances of successful advertising campaigns less and less these days. But that's okay, Fotor's ad creator can make yours stand out from the rest. In addition to free advertisement templates, Fotor calls on you to give full play to your artistic creativity based on the design tools we offer. Whether you're looking to create an ad to promote your new products or announce a sale event, we have everything you need to create professional-looking advertisements. Start promoting your business today with our ad maker and watch your sales soar!

Create Ads for All Social Media Channels

The boom of social media has led to a new dimension of advertising for brands. Our ad maker provides a wide range of ad templates to help you reach your target audience on different social media channels. You can effortlessly make a banner for YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, LinkedIn, Discord, and Twitter. Don't limit yourself to just one platform. Expand your reach and maximize your impact across multiple channels.

Create Professional Website Banner Ads that Convert

The banner ads hold the most significant position on a page, and everyone glances at the content on the banner. You can create ads to display your seasonal releases on the banner. Whether you need a leaderboard ad, skyscraper, or rectangle ad, we've it all. Choose from a wide range of banner ad templates and customize them to match your style and message. Add engaging images, compelling headlines, and catchy call-to-action buttons to prompt users to take the desired action. You don't have to hire a designer to make ads for your website anymore. Start designing your banner ads today and drive real results.

Enjoy Advertising Design Even on the Go

Our ad maker is also available on mobile phones. You can easily get free ad templates on any portable device. With the pocket ad creator app, you can make your own ads anytime and anywhere for free. The only thing you need is to download it and log in to create ads for free easily.

How to Make Advertisements?

• It's fast and easy to make a advertisement Design with Fotor's ad maker. Click on the “Make an Ad Now” button to get started.
• Browse a library of free advertisement templates, and choose one you like. Or you can also start with a blank canvas to create ads from scratch for free.
• Drag and drop to add your own text and images, and customize the colors and fonts to match your brand.
• Download your free ads in high resolution JPG, PNG or PDF format.

Start Your First Ad Design Now

There are loads of ad templates that you can easily customize to fit your needs. No matter what industry you are in, our ad maker can help you quickly create high-quality advertisements to improve publicity and achieve marketing goals. Now it's time to decide which one to use.

The Best Free Online Ad Maker

Our ad maker is the ultimate tool for creating advertisement designs. Whether you need digital ads or print ads, we've got you covered. Choose from our free, customizable ad templates to get started right away!

Discover More Design Tools on Fotor

Display Ads

Facebook Ads Creator

Black Friday

Pie Chart Maker

Recommended blog articles.

How to Advertise on Facebook Marketplace: The Ultimate Guides

Best Advertisement Examples: Templates & Inspiration

Banner Ads Design: The Comprehensive Tutorial for Beginners to Get More Clicks

5 Best Canva Alternatives for Better Graphic Design (2024)

More From Forbes

18 tips for developing effective ads that convert.

• Share to Facebook
• Share to Twitter
• Share to Linkedin

In today’s digital-forward business environment, attracting the attention of potential customers is simultaneously easier and more challenging than ever. While social media platforms have become a key way to effectively target a specific audience segment, businesses are competing in a crowded market that not only includes other businesses but also friends, family and more.

While standing out is difficult, developing advertisements that effectively capture the attention of audiences can be done with careful planning. Below, 18 Forbes Business Council members discuss strategies leaders can leverage to create effective ads that convert prospects.

1. Craft A Compelling Call To Action

In my experience, the secret to creating an effective ad that converts is crafting a compelling call to action or CTA. A clear and enticing CTA prompts immediate action from the viewer, resulting in higher conversion rates. It should be concise and specific while offering a clear benefit to the audience. - Ryan Austin , Cognota

2. Make It Memorable

The secret to creating an effective ad that converts lies in its memorability. In today's cluttered advertising space, capturing attention is paramount. One essential ingredient for achieving this is creativity. A memorable ad stands out, resonates emotionally and leaves a lasting impression, increasing brand recall and driving conversions. - Amber Brown , Grant Cardone Licensee

3. Connect On An Emotional Level

High-conversion commercials use captivating consumer psychology stories. Emotional triggers and inspiring stories help us connect with our audience. We improve our technique by utilizing real-time performance measurements. It is essential to connect with individuals on an emotional level because it effectively conveys the worth of your proposal, builds trust and inspires them to act. - Sergey Buchin , Irbisio Cleantech Infrastructure Fund

Best High-Yield Savings Accounts Of 2024

Best 5% interest savings accounts of 2024, 4. set yourself apart.

A key ingredient is difference. Research your competitors and aim to do something wildly different. For example, if they're all using sleek graphic ads with catchy taglines, perhaps try a minimalist approach with a bold, single statement. The more contrast you have, the more you’ll stand out and invoke curiosity. This will leave your audiences excited and eager to make that click. - Sean Shea , ViB

5. Deeply Understand Your Audience

Your target audience is the key to successful advertising. Understanding their needs, desires and problems allows us to create advertising materials that are attractive and relevant. It's also important to demonstrate how our product or service can help solve their problems or meet their needs. This analysis allows us to create advertising that effectively communicates with our audience. - Jekaterina Beljankova , WALLACE s.r.o

6. Tap Into Deep Desires And Fears

The No. 1 ingredient for creating ads that get people to buy is tapping into their deepest desires and fears. Craft your message to what your customer craves or worries about the most. Use vivid language to stir emotions like longing for success, yearning for love or dread of failure. Make them feel your product or service will solve their burning need. When ads ignite powerful feelings, customers feel compelled to take action. - Vikrant Shaurya , Authors On Mission

7. Blend Human Insight With Humor

In our experience, the secret to crafting an effective ad is having a deep human insight driving the story and blending that insight with humor. Understanding what triggers people's decisions, fears and joys is crucial. Once you have that insight, infusing humor can be a powerful way to connect by creating tension. This will make the ad relatable and, most importantly, shareable. - Roberto Max Salas , Young Hero

Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?

8. Be Authentic

I’ve found that authenticity is the key ingredient to creating an effective ad that truly converts. It’s about connecting with your audience, understanding their needs and addressing these concerns with integrity. This approach garners attention and builds lasting trust, transforming interest into action. Remember that customers seek solutions from trustworthy sources—authenticity drives conversations. - Aleesha Webb , Pioneer Bank

9. Create Relevant Ads

Ads can convert when they are relevant to the target segment. Ads that address a customer's pain point have a much better chance of converting than visually appealing ones. As much as possible, it is better to test an ad on a sample population before spending a big budget on it. Testing ad effectiveness in today's digital world is not a difficult task at all. - Sabeer Nelliparamban , Tyler Petroleum Inc / ZilBank

10. Focus On The Solution

Highlight the solution, not just the product. An effective ad connects by addressing the audience's pain points directly and showing how your solution will make their life easier or better. - Blake Olson , Smart Prop Trader

11. Provide Timely Information

Effective ads are curated with articles that can provide customers with the information they really want in a timely manner. Traditional SEO alone is not necessarily the approach your customers want, so you will need an information platform that satisfies their needs. It would be even better to have a system that allows for interactive information sharing rather than one-way information provision. - Karita Takahisa , UNIFY PLATFORM AG

12. Localize Ads

Targeting ads based on geographic location or local preferences can make them more relevant and impactful. Customize ad content to reflect regional interests, language preferences or cultural nuances. Localized targeting will help you connect with audiences on a personal level, increasing the likelihood of conversions, especially for businesses with physical locations or regional offerings. - Ran Ronen , Equally AI

13. Utilize Good Visuals

Crafting an effective ad that converts involves utilizing good visuals that capture attention. In the property management industry, showcasing stunning images of luxurious amenities or offering virtual tours can entice potential guests to book a stay. By combining persuasive messaging with visually appealing content, businesses can create ads that attract attention and drive meaningful engagement. - Johan Hajji , UpperKey

14. Tap Into Audience Emotions

The most effective ads tap into the target audience's emotions—whether that's excitement, humor, aspiration, nostalgia, etc. Figure out which emotion most authentically aligns with your message and audience to deliver an advertisement that is memorable and impactful. Emotive language and strong imagery are excellent tools to make sure an advertisement isn’t looked over. - Archer Chiang , Giftpack

15. Tailor Messaging

In our experience, one essential ingredient is relevance. Tailoring your advert to address specific audience pain points and motivations increases the impact and likelihood of conversion. When your ad speaks directly to the audience's interests and addresses their concerns, it establishes a stronger connection and drives higher conversion rates. - Chris Coldwell , Quicksilver Software Development Inc .

16. Highlight Your Unique Offering

One core ingredient you must have in your ad is the unique selling proposition of your brand. Identify and highlight what sets you apart from the rest. Hit the right spots in terms of the brand and cover all the bases the ad requires by being funny, emotional or adventurous to properly position the brand to the target audience. - Vinay Chandrashekar , Long Boat Brewing Co.

17. Be Patient

The secret ingredient for an effective ad is simple: patience. In marketing, it's rare to nail it on the first try. View each campaign as a learning experience where even subtle changes can get you closer to your conversion goals. With that in mind, don't be afraid to try something new. Often, the best-performing ads are the most surprising. - Mark DeHaan , TenantCloud & Rentler

18. Have A Finger On The Public's Pulse

People like to think we're totally rational actors making rational decisions when many things are truly motivated by a fleeting feeling or subconscious instinct. A good ad must have its finger on the public pulse. Whether that public is B2B or B2C, the things that induce virality and conversion are about getting a deep cultural and emotional understanding and then reflecting that onto the viewer. - Michael Shribman , APS Global Partners Inc.

• Editorial Standards
• Reprints & Permissions

The Daily Show Fan Page

Explore the latest interviews, correspondent coverage, best-of moments and more from The Daily Show.

Extended Interviews

The Daily Show Tickets

Attend a Live Taping

Find out how you can see The Daily Show live and in-person as a member of the studio audience.

Best of Jon Stewart

The Weekly Show with Jon Stewart

New Episodes Thursdays

Jon Stewart and special guests tackle complex issues.

Powerful Politicos

The Daily Show Shop

Great Things Are in Store

Become the proud owner of exclusive gear, including clothing, drinkware and must-have accessories.

About The Daily Show